Italy
Two very different playgrounds: the low-lying gneiss slabs of the Paretone di Arnad / Corma di Machaby above Arnad, climbable most of the year and covered in well-bolted 8–13 pitch plaisir lines, and the high granite buttresses of Val Ferret above Courmayeur, a summer-only venue. Arnad is just off the A5 motorway between Ivrea and Aosta; Val Ferret is reached by road from Courmayeur.
Where and when
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Centroid of Arnad (Machaby) and the two Val Ferret crags
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8 routes
Italy · Aosta Valley
This is the most-climbed route on the Paretone. It gives sustained, varied slab and crack climbing on good gneiss, and the hardest moves are a fine crack on P2, a slanting corner and a punchy wall. Queues are common on good days. The Mani Nude guidebook grades it stiffly; camptocamp's Italian page calls it sustained at 5b–5c+ with a single 6a.
6a10 pitches290 m
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Italy · Aosta Valley
Along with Bucce d'Arancia this is the Paretone's other great classic (first ascent 1977, later retro-bolted). It climbs big, juggy, non-athletic slabs on beautiful rock up the centre of the wall to near the summit. Expect a few metres above the last bolt in places.
5c+9 pitches250 m
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Italy · Aosta Valley
A long, easy-angled outing up the full height of the Paretone. A steeper lower half with an exposed pillar on P5 leads to sculpted slabs and broken steps higher up. It's a good first big multipitch.
5c13 pitches400 m
Italy · Aosta Valley
Rated 'great' on camptocamp: a wild setting with a short, easy approach from Lavachey. It climbs edgy granite slabs and a pillar crest, with a three-star exposed slab on P9.
6a+11 pitches350 m
Italy · Aosta Valley
A pretty plaisir route on edgy, quartz-studded granite slabs beneath the Mont Blanc massif. The crux is a short bulge and steep juggy wall on P4. Camptocamp rates it 'great'.
6a7 pitches180 m
Italy · Aosta Valley
The hard route at the far left of the Paretone: two ordinary pitches, then steep walls on pitches 4 and 5 that are less slabby than the neighbours. Pitch 6 follows the arete at 7a, or 6a+ with a strenuous few metres of aid. Harder than the board at the car park suggests.
7a10 pitches250 m
Italy · Aosta Valley
A six-pitch arete of well-featured gneiss that is steeper than the grade suggests, with two short bolted traverses. Recent parties recommend it as a first multipitch: good rock, close bolts and a quick path down.
4c6 pitches225 m
Italy · Aosta Valley
Technical granite slabs and short steep walls in two tiers, in a quiet corner of the Val Ferret below the Mont Blanc range. The 6b+ pitch builds through three hard moves, the last very thin. Obligatory climbing and some spaced bolts make it more serious than its neighbour Il Gatto e la Volpe.
6b+9 pitches250 m
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Italy